"If helping the poor is a crime, and fighting for freedom is rebellion, then I plead guilty as charged." --Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran

Monday, February 27, 2006

Statement of Concern from Filipinos in the US

STATEMENT OF CONCERNCONDEMN "STATE OF EMERGENCY" IN THE PHILIPPINES!

We, the undersigned labor, church, community and human rights leaders here in the United States, condemn the declaration of a state of emergency in the Philippines by Gloria Arroyo. This is an act of desperation on the part of a president who is widely viewed by the people as illegal and illegitimate to extend her stay in power through spurious and unconstitutional means and maneuvers by riding roughshod on the people's civil and political rights, and by resorting increasingly to more fascist means to achieve an unimpeded Palace power grab.

We also denounce the warrantless arrest and detention of AnakpawisRepresentative Crispin Beltran, his wife and several other members of hisfamily and the ongoing military crackdown on other progressive party-listsolons as plain acts of political harassment against opposition leaderswhich are blatantly illegal and without basis, in total disregard ofparliamentary immunity.

We further condemn the military's recent (Friday night) raid on the *Daily Tribune* newspaper office, the deployment of troops to *"watch"* over broadcast stations ABS-CBN and GMA7, and the threat against media organizations and personnel – as a concerted attempt of the Arroyo regime to clamp down on media and prevent them from exercising the freedom of the press without which there would be no democracy in the Philippines.